Galleria Borghese
Galleria Borghese
Galleria Borghese
A TREASURE TROVE OF BAROQUE ART
The Galleria Borghese houses one of the world’s finest collections of baroque art. Highlights include its collection of masterpieces by Caravaggio and wonderful sculptures by Bernini. And if that’s not enough, there are many other great renaissance artists to enjoy, including Raphael, Titian, Bellini and Cranach.
Important info in advance:
- Galleria Borghese can be visited only with tickets reserved in advance. There are NO tickets on site.
- In the high season, tickets can be gone quickly – so you should reserve well in advance!
- Online tickets must be exchanged on site. So be there early!
- Visits are in 2 hour slots. 9.00 a.m. – 11.00 a.m. / 10.00 a.m. – 12.00 p.m./ 11.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m./ etc. Only 180 people allowed per slot.
- If there is an exhibition, the entrance fee is more expensive
- The official audio guide is highly recommended and can be rented on site for EUR 5
Find all admission and guided Tour options here!
Opening hours:
Tuesday – Sunday,
9.00 a.m. – 7.00 p.m.
Monday closed
My Rating:
The positives:
The gallery is a must for any art lover. The sculpture collection is simply exquisite and showcases baroque sculpture at its very best. And the painting collection is equally stunning.
The negatives:
You can’t just turn up at the gallery and take a look around. Pre-booking is essential. Even in non-COVID times, visitor numbers are restricted to 300 at any one time. Tickets are available in two-hour time slots.
Tip:
Book well ahead (before you travel to Rome), as tickets sell out fast in high season. And don’t scrimp on the audio guide. It’s well worth it!
Last Modified: 28.02.2024 | Céline
Borghese Gallery
Tickets
| GALLERIA BORGHESE TICKETS | Price | Information | Buy ticket |
|---|---|---|---|
|
ONLINE-TICKET |
EUR 24 | Entry for a 2-hour time slot, incl. Exhibitions | Buy ticket |
|
Admission + Hop-Bus |
EUR 30 | Entry for a 2-hour time slot + 1 day Hop-on Bus -> better price than buying only the admission! | Buy ticket |
|
Guided Tour 1 |
EUR 81 | Entry for a 2-hour time slot + guided tour in English | Book Tour |
|
Guided Tour 2 |
EUR 39 | Guided tour in English, Duration: 2.5 hours | Book Tour |
The details
at a glance
Opening hours
Visiting the Galleria Borghese is only possible every 2 hours
9 a.m. – 11 a.m. / 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. / 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. / 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. / 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. / 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. / 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. / 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. / 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Important: There is no entry without prior reservation.
Public holidays:
December 25th and January 1st closed
Prices
EUR 9* for young people aged 18 – 25 years
free admission* for children under the age of 18, senior citizens over the age of 65, every first Sunday of the month
* incl EUR 2 reservation fee. There are sporadically remaining tickets, which can then be obtained on site. Own risk…
Online ticket through the official site: 17 euros (Only in Italian)
Roma Pass
Reservation necessary!
Tel.: +39 06 32810 or via email: info@tosc.it.
The Galleria Borghese is on the list of museums and sights you can visit with the Roma Pass.
The Roma Pass is valid for 48 or 72 hours.
-> More about the Roma Pass
The Roma Pass is also included with the 72-hour Omnia Card.
-> More about the Omnia Card
Galleria Borghese
Photo Gallery
What is there
to see?
The Galleria Borghese in the Villa Borghese park is a must for any art lover. Here you will find one of the world’s finest collections of baroque art.
My personal highlight was the collection of sculptures by Bernini, but the gallery also boasts a wonderful collection of pieces by Caravaggio and many of the great renaissance artists, including Raphael, Titian, Bellini and Cranach. The works of neo-classical sculptor Antonio Canova, including his famous figure of Pauline Borghese, are also very impressive.
The wonderful artwork aside, the architecture and interior décor of the gallery itself make it well worth a visit. The beautiful rooms – with their painted ceilings, stunning marble and exquisitely decorated doors, walls and tables – transport you back in time, to when Cardinal Scipione Borghese created this wonderful place.
Art lovers will be in seventh heaven!
Galleria Borghese
A bit of history
The Galleria Borghese is located in the Villa Borghese park and was built in the early 17th century. It is the legacy of Scipione Caffarelli Borghese (1577–1633), a cardinal, papal legate, Archbishop of Bologna, and also a passionate collector of art.
Borghese recognised and nurtured talented young artists and acquired many of their works. The most prominent of these were Caravaggio and also Bernini, who came to Borghese’s attention at the age of just 10. The villa that is now home to the Galleria Borghese was originally used to house Borghese’s collection of antiquities. The paintings were housed in the cardinal’s residence near St Peter’s before being moved here in the 1620s.
After Borghese’s death in 1633, his collection continued to grow, but many works were lost when a descendant of the family, Camillo Borghese, married Napoleon’s sister, Pauline Bonaparte. The Bonapartes famously shipped many works of art off to the Louvre in Paris and the Galleria Borghese was yet another casualty, losing around 500 works to the French capital.
A sculpture of Pauline (Bonaparte) Borghese, by Antonio Canova, can still be seen in the gallery today.
Scipione Borghese is buried in the Cappella Paolina in the Santa Maria Maggiore church, his grave fittingly marked by a marble bust of himself created by none other than Bernini.
GIAN LORENZO
BERNINI
Born in 1598 in Naples, Gian Lorenzo Bernini (or Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini as he’s also known) was one of the most prominent sculptors and architects of the baroque period.
His many architectural achievements include St. Peter’s Square, the Scala Regia (the staircase leading to the official entrance to the Vatican) and the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) in the Piazza Navona.
That said, it’s his sculptures that are truly remarkable.
Apollo and Daphne
The Galleria Borghese is home to Bernini’s exquisite sculpture of Apollo and Daphne.
To truly appreciate this exceptional masterpiece, you need to view it from all angles. Trust me! Look closely, and you’ll see every detail is full of dynamism and drama, especially Daphne’s hands and feet.
The sculpture depicts the story of Daphne, a mountain nymph from Greek mythology. In Ovid’s epic poem, Apollo, the god of archery, mocks Eros, the god of love, for his use of a bow and arrow.
In revenge, Eros shoots Apollo with a gold arrow and makes him fall in love with Daphne for all eternity. He then shoots Daphne with a lead arrow, instilling in her an intense aversion to Apollo.
Apollo pursues Daphne but she flees time and again until she can flee no longer and begs her father Peneus for help. She begs him to change her form so that she can be free of Apollo forever. Peneus answers her plea, her limbs grow stiff and she is transformed into a laurel tree.
It is this moment of transformation, as Daphne’s fingers become leaves and branches and her toes become roots, that Bernini depicts in his sculpture.
According to the legend, from this moment on Apollo made the laurel his sacred tree and adorned himself and his cithara with laurel leaves in Daphne’s honour. Never again did he mock Eros, the god of love…
Official website of the Borghese Gallery (EN): galleriaborghese.beniculturali.it
Text and image rights: © Céline Mülich, 2016 – 2024
